Zim, Moza prison officials exchange notes

Source: Zim, Moza prison officials exchange notes | The Herald

Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service Commissioner-General, Moses Chihobvu (second from left) with the Mozambican Director-General of the National Penitentiary Service, Brigadier António Augusto Maurice, (right), speak to one of the Harare Central Prison inmates Delight Gapara (centre) during a tour of the prison yesterday. – Picture: Memory Mangombe

Precious Manomano Herald Reporter

Continued collaboration between Zimbabwe and Mozambique is critical for the two countries’ development, the visiting Mozambican National Penitentiary Service on Prison Services delegation said yesterday.

Zimbabwe and Mozambique have agreed to work together, sharing advice on rehabilitation of inmates and reviewing their bilateral relations with the aim of strengthening ties.

Speaking after touring Harare Central Prison, the Mozambican national director-general of the National Penitentiary Service, General Antonio Augusto Maurice, commended the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) for introducing rehabilitation programmes that will go a long way in assisting prisoners when they go back into society.

He said they will implement similar programmes in their country, and urged the ZPCS to continue doing the good work.

“You are doing very well. We are going to do the same programmes in Mozambique. We are really impressed about your projects,” said General Maurice.

“We believe that holistically, looking at their (ZPCS) projects, they actually relate to our mandate of the rehabilitation of prisoners. In fact, these are the projects that when inmates complete their sentences, they would be able to sustain themselves and their families.”

The Mozambican delegation has visited to exchange notes with the ZPCS, as they seek to implement best practices from the country’s correctional and rehabilitation facilities.

They have so far visited various prisons in the country including Harare Central and Marondera Open Prison.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, said after the visit and exchange of notes, there is a possibility of coming up with the best practice in ensuring that prisoners were taken care of according to the international standards.

“Our prisons will be exchanging notes and see where they can borrow best practices and implement within our systems, so we believe that this is a good thing. They are here to familiarise themselves in our system and we are in the process of amending our Prisons Act to incorporate aspects that were introduced by the constitution in terms of rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders so we believe that this benchmark visit will enrich our own experiences and allow us to improve our services,” he said.

ZPCS Commissioner-General Moses Chihobvu they were also benefiting a lot from Mozambique on best ways of taking care of inmates.

He said it was good for other countries to benchmark each other in rehabilitation and integration of inmates.

“The delegation arrived on Wednesday, we are exchanging notes and we are learning from them the best ways of taking care of inmates, they are also learning from us that they can take home and implement.

“If we exchange views, there is a possibility of improvement in whatever we do,” he said.